Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General Charity Clark today joined a coalition of 18 other attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) challenging a rule that would weaken regulations designed to phase out the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in commercial equipment. HFCs are chemicals used for refrigeration and cooling that are up to 10,000 times more potent than the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide, and they are among the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions both in the United States and around the world. In the petition filed today in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Attorney General Clark and the coalition ask the Court to review EPA’s new rule because it is contrary to law and EPA fails to justify its change in position. 

Vermont Business Magazine The VSC Executive Committee will meet on Tuesday July 28, 2026 at 1:00 p.m. at CCV Winooski, 1 Abenaki Way, Winooski, room 206 and vsc.edu/botzoom. The public may join the video call at www.vsc.edu/botzoom. Those who wish to make a public comment must be signed into the call and may sign up ahead of the meeting at www.vsc.edu/signup. The meeting will be streamed live at www.vsc.edu/live.

Vermont Business Magazine The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont stated that on July 21, 2026, Stephen Lane, 57, of Burlington, Vermont, was sentenced by Chief United States District Judge Christina Reiss to a term of 97 months’ imprisonment to be followed by a 15-year term of supervised release. Chief Judge Reiss also imposed a $10,000 assessment to be paid to the Child Pornography Victims Reserve and a $5,000 assessment to be paid to the Domestic Trafficking Victims’ Fund. Lane previously pleaded guilty to distributing a video of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM).

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Treasurer Pieciak unveiled $25 million in new funding available for housing, job creation, and affordability across Vermont. It’s the latest installment of investments made available by the treasurer to tackle Vermont’s housing shortage and the high cost of living. The funding is offered through Treasurer Pieciak’s ‘Invest in Vermont’ program, which invests 12.5% of the State’s daily cash balance into projects that grow the economy and make Vermont more affordable. Formerly ‘10% in VT,’ the Legislature recently expanded the program’s lending capacity by 2.5%. Accordingly, the program has been renamed, ‘Invest in Vermont.’

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott’s office today announced a range of appointments made in the second quarter of 2026. Boards and commissions serve an important role in state government, giving Vermonters numerous opportunities to serve their state and communities. The Governor’s office is currently soliciting applications to fill vacancies and upcoming term expirations. All those interested in serving on a board or commission should visit the Governor’s website.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Today, the Vermont Department of Labor released data on the Vermont economy for the time period covering June 2026. According to household data, the seasonally adjusted statewide unemployment rate for June was 2.6 percent. This reflects no change from the prior month’s revised estimate. The Labor Force and number of Vermonters employed both cratered again, down more than 1,000 each from May and down more than 10,000 each from last June. The jobless rate was unchanged as the loss of employment was offset by a reduction in the Labor Force. The civilian labor force participation rate was 62.3 percent in June, a decrease of two-tenths of one percentage point from the prior month’s revised estimate. The comparable United States rate in June was 4.2 percent, a decrease of one-tenth of one percentage point from the revised May estimate.

Vermont Business Magazine RSVP & The Volunteer Center, which operates within the Rutland Community Programs division of Community Care Network, announced today that it has received an AmeriCorps Seniors grant of $127,500 from AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism. The grant will support RSVP & The Volunteer Center’s expanded presence throughout Rutland and Addison counties, where it has been providing older adult programming across the areas of companionship, independent living, socialization, wellness, tax preparation and transportation for over 45 years.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health has reported have COVID-19 hospitalizations remain at a negligible level as total levels are nearly too low to measure. They are at a similar level to the levels seen last summer. There were no measles cases after one reported in Vermont in February in Washington County and the national outbreak is over. Meanwhile, Flu A and Flu B have essentially disappeared. There is still some samples Norovirus showing up in Vermont. Nationally, COVID samples have increased.

Vermont Business Magazine It's 10:30 on a Tuesday night. A patient needs a prescription refilled before a trip. She picks up her phone, calls her doctor's office, and has a conversation with an AI agent. Within minutes, the request is logged, routed, and sent to the pharmacy—no hold music, no callback—and her prescription will be ready first thing in the morning. That same evening, a pediatrician in Texas receives another message. A parent had texted her child's symptoms to the office. Based on the language in the message, the text was flagged by AI as urgent and routed immediately to the doctor on call, who recognized that the child was in sepsis and directed the family to the emergency room. Both conversations were relayed through OhMD, a Burlington-based software company that automates routine exchanges for medical practices.

Vermont Business Magazine When you walk into a clinic in Vermont — whether it’s your primary care doctor or an emergency room you’ve never been to before — your providers caring for you should have easily accessible information about you, like medications and medical history. It’s a reasonable expectation, and for more than twenty years, VITL has been the organization working quietly behind the scenes to make it a reality. Today, VITL, the independent nonprofit that operates Vermont’s statewide health information exchange (HIE), is taking that work further and announcing its migration to a new clinical data repository and provider portal platform powered by Outcome Healthcare.

Vermont Business Magazine Central Vermont Community Radio (CVCR), home of WGDR, Plainfield, WGDH, Hardwick, and online listening at WGDR.org, has announced three major developments shaping the station’s future: a required relocation from the Creative Campus, the successful launch of its new broadcast antenna for WGDR, Plainfield, and plans to expand local coverage through future FM translator stations. CVCR has been notified that its lease on the Creative Campus will not be renewed, requiring the station to vacate its current location by March 1, 2027.

Vermont Business Magazine Health care organizations representing over 3,000 physicians, midwives, nurse practitioners, and other health care professionals have called on Gov. Phil Scott and leaders at the Agency of Human Services to increase funding for prenatal, labor and delivery, and postpartum care, so that reimbursement rates more adequately cover the true cost of these services. In many rural counties in Vermont, most births are covered by Medicaid. But Vermont Medicaid reimbursement rates for labor and delivery services are substantially lower than rates paid by nearby states, including Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and below the payment rates set by the federal Medicare program.